Abandon (2002)
Watch who you leave behind
Starring: Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnam, Zooey Deschanel, Mark Feuerstein, Fred Ward, Melanie Lynskey, Philip Bosco, Gabriel Mann, Will McCormack, Gabrielle Union, Greg Kramer, Gillian Ferrabee, Barry Julien, Tony Goldwyn
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Running Time: 99 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 15
Drama, Thriller
On DVD For a film so ridiculously bad, 'Abandon' takes itself surprisingly seriously. Set in and around surely the most dimly-lit university campus in the whole of the United States, it stars Katie Holmes as a grade-A student who takes a break from tax-dodging, staying in bed until the middle of the afternoon and complaining about the cost of food (but still having enough money for booze, no doubt!!) to go a little bit off her rocker.
Things start to go a tad askew for the 'Dawson's Creek' alumnus when swarthy detective Benjamin Bratt turns up and starts asking questions about a particularly-pretentious boyfriend (Charlie Hunnam) who went missing a few years back. But has Lovekins just taken an extra-long vacation, or is he - drum-roll, please - dead? Let's hope it's the latter - and that it was extremely painful.
Although boasting plenty of killable characters, the film can't come up with a single likable one. In fact, it's a tough call deciding which of the main players - Holmes' Katie or Hunnam's Embry - is the more obnoxious. Personally I'm going to go for Embry, but only because there's a fair chance that his death - if, indeed he's even dead - was caused by his body imploding under the gargantuan external weight of his own ego.
Writer-director Stephen Gaghan picked up an Oscar two years previously for penning the Traffic screenplay, but if this is a more accurate representation of his talents then that award is starting to look like a whopping great miscalculation on the Academy's part. Not only is he unable to tease passable performances out of a fairly-sturdy cast from the comfort of his director's chair, but his self-written script is among the most dreary of 2002.
DVD Extras: Cast and crew bios.
It's Got: One of the most predictable twists of recent years.
It Needs: Bit-part player Fred Ward to bring along one of his co-stars from 'Tremors' (i.e. a giant carnivorous slug) to boost the bum-level entertainment levels.
Alternatives: The Gift, The Hole
Summary: It's called 'Abandon' - and that's exactly what you should do.
Review by Gary Panton
External Links
Official Web Site
Abandon at the IMDB
Comments3 Comments |
| well i rekon that he was much better in Cold Mountain i thought that he was much hotter as that albino lol. i wish i could have jumped into that screen and kissed him...i always dream about him coming into my room and then we'd just kiss =P.... i feel silly telling my feelings to people i dont know. but o well love from anneka xxxoooxxx to charlie |
| Comment by:- anneka hunnam | | 24 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| Charlie Hunnam is very Hot, he is a good actor and this is a very good movie. Katie Holmes was lucky to meet him. I Loved the movie and Charlie made it better |
| Comment by:- Morgan Boucher | | 11 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I think that Abandon gave us a false impression of Embry and Katie from the start. They made Embry seem like a good guy who loved his girlfriend when all he cared about was himself.Katie was a manipulative girl who always got her way with men except when Embry refused to take her to Europe with him. The detective however was stupid enough to fall for a college student.He couldn't be man enough to stay a cop and he couldn't be man enough to find a real woman.Katie Holmes's performance was tiring, boring and average.Bratt's performance was ridiculous and Charlie Hunnam's performance was laugh out loud pathetic.If it wasn't for his good looks he would have been beyong pathetic. |
| Comment by:- Faith Tindi Mwashigadi. | | 07 November 2004 | ip: logged |
